Milo-header.



R. L. DAVID.

MILO HEADER. APPLICATION FILED 001" a, 1912.

Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

2 SHEETS8HEET 1.

R. L. DAVID.

MILO HEADER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT 3, 1912. 1,084,403.

Patented Ja11.13,1914.

2 SHBBTS-SHEET 2.

l/Vl/E/VTOR R. I. flavid.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH CO.,WASHINGTDN, D. c.

ROY L. DAVID, 0F BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

MILO-HEADER.

iflltidAdS.

Application filed. October 3, 1512.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROY L. DAVID, residing at Berkeley,in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Milol ieaders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to pro vide a mile header that will enable the user to retain the cut heads or any severed part of the stalk in the same hand in which he holds the knife and without the necessity of twisting the hand into awkward positions in order to grasp the severed part, thus enabling the operator to use a device in each hand and thereby double his capacity.

Probably the principal use of my invention will be for heading non-saccharine sorghums. As commonly practised at the present time, the picker wears a special receptacle strapped to the waist. Grasping a head in one hand he cuts it off, usually with an ordinary blade or pruning knife held in the other hand. )y this practice, the hand holding the knife, of necessity, remains idle while the severed head is conveyed to the receptacle, and another one grasped by the free hand of the operator. This practice also necessitates the operator, first picking a few heads on one side of himself and then he must take time to turn his entire body in order to get a head or two on the other side. With my apparatus, however, the operator is enabled to pick on both sides, the heads to the right of him being gathered by the device in the right hand, while those to the left of him are gathered by the use of the device in his left hand, and since dropping the severed head into the sack soon becomes automatic, the operator may give his entire attention to directing the hands in grasping the heads, thereby increasing his efficiency.

Generically the present invention resides in providing a cutting appliance that may be held in the palm of the operators hand with the removable knife carrying element located between the second and third fingers, thereby leaving the first and fourth fingers free to grip the severed head, making it possible to cut and hold a head regardless of its direction of inclination, without unnaturally or awkwardly twisting the hand or wrist in order to bring the appliance into operative position.

Again the invention provides a device Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

Serial no. 723,662.

of convenient operativeness, whereby the relatively fixed and movable knife carrying elements may be widely separated with a minimum movement of the fingers to allow an easy entrance of the stalk into position for cutting.

The invention further has for its object to provide a device whereby the cutting of the stalk is effected with a small amount of exertion.

More specifically the invention includes those novel details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described, and then be specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of using my invention, the operator being provided with both a right and a left hand cutter. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the right hand device oaened. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the right hand device in its fully opened position, a part of the strap being removed. Fig. a is a side elevation showing the first position of the parts during the closing or cutting act. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the device in the final or closed position. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the device with the parts positioned as indicated in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the same, parts being broken away. Fig. 8 is a section on the line S8 of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of the guard member. Figs. 10 and 11 are detail perspective views of the two arms. Fig. 12 is a detail perspective view of the relatively rigid main angled arm or support.

In the drawings in which like numerals of reference designate like parts in all the figures, 1 is the main angled arm, which includes the rearwardly projecting portion 4: that terminates in an offset 5, which is provided with a stop 6 and a nut portion 7, that is threaded to aline with the aperture 8 and receive the threaded end of the bolt 31.

9 is the supplemental angled arm which has a bearing 10 to freely turn on the bolt 31, and it also has a stop 11 to cooperate with the stop 6 and limit the opening movement of the two sections of the device. The arm 9 includes the pendent portion 12, which is bored at 13, to receive the pivot bolt, pin, or rivet 14-, that holds the guard member in place.

ill

The guard member consists of the two side plates or wings which are connected together at intervals by cross bridges 16 and 17, the bridge 17 also acting as a stop during the cutting act, as will be hereinafter made clear. The guard also includes the laterally projecting members 18 and is bored at 19, to receive the pivot 14, and it also is bored at 20 to receive the connecting pin 21 which pivotally joins the link 22 to the wing 15. The connecting link 22 at its other end, is joined at 23 to the rocking arm 24, which is bored at 25 to fit on to the bolt 31, and which has a hole 26 for one end of the torsion spring 27, the other end of which passes into a cross hole 29 in the enlargement 30, of the bolt 31. The bolt 31 has the usual head 28.

32 is a check or look nut which when threaded onto the bolt 31 will hold it from turning.

33 is the knife guard and pusher which has fingers 34 for gripping over the lateral extensions 18 of the guard 15, and it also has a pendent portion 35 to which the knife lugs 36 are secured to hold the knife 37 in place.

Secured to the back of the cup 2 is a hand encircling strap 38 which has the usual buckle 39 for tightening purposes. The strap 38 also carries a wrist band or strap 40 which is likewise provided with an adhim being clipped by stalks on the right of hand, while the stalks the device in his right on the left of him are clipped with the device in his left hand, it being understood that both devices are of the same construction, excepting that one is a right and the other is a left. After having closed the movable knife into shearing contact with the fixed knife, upon opening the hand, the first part of the movement of the knife 37 is directly upward until the stop 11 contacts the stop 6, whereupon further opening of the hand allows the spring 27 to rock the arm 24 and thereby turn the knife 37 and guard 15 on the pivot 14 through the medium of the link connection 22.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought the complete construction, operation, and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

hat I claim is 1. A milo header, including a main supporting arm projecting in the longitudinal direction of the palm of the hand, a palm engaging member located at one end of said main supporting arm and shaped to fit into the palm of the hand and a fixed cutter mounted on said arm, a supplemental arm movably mounted on said main arm, a cutter mounted on said supplemental arm in a position to be pressed by the second and third justable buckle 41, as best shown in Figs. l fingers of the hand, and means for securing 2, 5 and 6 of the drawings. In using the invention, in the palm of the hand, as indicated best in Fig. 2 of the drawings, with the guard 15 held between the second and third fingers of the hand, thus leaving the first and fourth fingers free to grip either the stalk or the cut off head to the palm, as indicated in Fig. 1, so that it may be transferred to the sack or receptacle. The spring 27 continuously tends to open the parts to the positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. In order to cut a stalk the operator performs a grasping act, as it were, and closes his fingers toward his palm, thus swinging the guard 15 and the movable knife 37 in an arc having as its center the pivot 14. This swinging movement continues until the stop piece 17 engages the main angled arm 1, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings, whereupon any further closing of the fingers of the hand simply moves the knife 37 directly toward the cup 2 and parallel to the cup supporting portion of the angled arm 1 to move the knife 37 into shearing contact with the fixed knife 3, thereby severing the stalk. The severed portion is then retained by the first finger and thumb or the first finger and the palm of the operator and conveyed to the receptacle. The operator walks of stalks, clipping those in reach on one side, and then those on the other side, the

the device is held the device on the hand of the user.

2. A milo header, including a main supporting arm projecting in the longitudinal direction of the palm of the hand, a palm engaging member located at one end of said main supporting arm and shaped to fit into the palm of the hand and a fixed cutter mounted on'said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally mounted on said main arm, a cutter movably mounted on said supplemental arm, means for securing the de vice on the hand of the user with the palm engaging member resting in the palm of the hand, and means continuously tending to move said supplemental arm in a position to be pressed by the second and third fingers of the hand to separate said cutters.

3. A milo header, including a main supporting arm, a palm engaging member and a fixed cutter mounted on said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally mounted on said main arm, a cutter movably mounted on said sup plemental arm, means for securing the device on the hand of the user, and means continuously tending to move said supple-mental arm to separate said cutters, and including means for moving said cutter on said supplemental arm.

at. A milo header, including a main angled down the lane I arm, a palm cup secured to the lower end of the same, a fixed knife carried by said arm and cup, a supplemental angled arm pivoted to said main angled arm, a knife guard and presser pivoted 011 said supplemental angled arm, a movable knife carried by said guard and presser, means continuously tending to separate said angled arms, and including means for swinging said movable knife and guard on said supplemental arm to its open position.

5. A milo header, including a main sup-- porting arm, a fixed knife, a supplemental arm pivotally mounted on said main arm, each of said arms having portions projectable between the second and third fingers of the hand, a knife guard and presser pivotally mounted on said supplemental arm, a knife carried by said guard and presser, a stop carried by said guard to cooperate with said main arm and limit the turning move ment of said guard on its pivot, substantially as shown and described.

6. A milo header, including a main L-shaped arm, a relatively fixed knife carried by said main L-shaped arm, a supplemental L-shaped arm pivoted to said main l.-shaped arm, a movable knife pivotally connected with said supplemental angled arm, and means cooperative with the aforesaid parts for swinging said supplemental L-shaped arm on its pivot and turning said knife on its pivotal connection.

7 In a milo header a main angled arm, a palm engaging member and a relatively fixed knife carried by said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally secured to said main angled arm, a knife guard and presser and guard wings pivotally mounted on said supplemental angled arm, a knife carried by said guard and presser, and means continuously tending to separate said main and supplemental arms and including devices to rock said knife guard and presser and guard wings on their pivotal axis.

8. In a milo header a main angled arm, a palm engaging member and a relatively fixed knife carried by said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally secured to said main angled arm, a knife guard and presser and guard wings pivotally mounted on said supplemental angled arm, a knife carried by said guard and presser, and means continuously tending to separate said main and supplemental arms and including devices to rock said knife guard and presser and guard Wings on their pivotal axis, and means for arresting the movement of said supplemental arm under the influence of said continuously tending means in advance of the cessation of movement of said knife guard and presser and said guard wings on their pivotal axis.

9. A milo header, comprising a main angled arm, a palm engaging member and a relatively fixed knife carried by said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally mounted on said main arm, guard wings pivotally mounted on said supplemental arm, a rocking arm pivotally mounted on said main arm, a link connection between said rocking arm and said guard wings, a knife and presser member carried by said guard wings, and means continuously tending to move said rocker arm on its pivot to turn said guard wings on their pivotal axis and also separate said main and sm'iplemental arms, and means for securing the device on the hand of the operator.

10. A milo header, comprising a main augled arm, a palm engaging member and a relatively fixed knife carried by said arm, a siu'iplemental arm pivotally mounted on said main arm, guard wings pivotally mounted on. said supplemental arm, a rocking arm. pivotally mounted on said main arm, a link connection between said rocking arm and said guard wings, a knife and presser member carried by said guard wings, and means continuously tending to move said rocker arm on its pivot to turn said guard wings on their pivotal axis and also separate said main and supplemental arms, means for securing the device on the hand of the operator, and means for limiting the separating movement of said arms.

11. if milo header, including a main sup porting arm, a palm engaging member and a fixed cutter mounted on said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally mounted on said main arm, a cutter movably mounted on said supplemental arm, means for securing the device on the hand of the user, and a cooperative connection between said arms for continuously tending to move said supplemental arm to separate said cutters.

12. A milo header, including a main supporting arm, a palm engaging member and a fixed cutter mounted on said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally mounted on said main arm, a cutter movably mounted on said supplemental arm, means for securing the device on the hand of the user, a connection between said arms and movable cutter, and including a spring device for moving said arms to separate said cutters and for moving said movable cutter on said supplemental arm.

13. A milo header, including a main angled arm, a palm cup secured to the lower end of the same, a fixed knife carried by said arm and cup, a supplemental angled arm pivoted to said main angled arm, a knife guard and presser pivoted on said supplemental angled arm, a movable knife carried by said guard and presser, means continuously tending to separate said angled arms, and including means for swinging said movable knife and guard on said supplemental arm to its open position, said continuously tending means and said knife swinging means including a spring operated member connecting said arms and said guard and presser.

14. A milo header, including a main angled arm, a relatively fixed knife carried by said main angled arm, a supplemental arm pivoted to said main angled arm, a movable knife pivotally connected With said sup plemental angled arm, and a spring actuated member cooperatively connected with said arms and said movable knife for swinging said supplemental arm on its pivot and turning said knife on its pivotal connection.

15. In a milo header a main angled arm, a palm engaging member and a relatively fixed knife carried by said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally secured to said main angled arm, a knife guard and presser and guard Wings pivotally mounted on said supplemental angled arm, a knife carried by said guard and presser, and means continuously tending to separate said main and supplemental arms and including devices to rock said knife guard and presser and guard Wings on their pivotal axis, said last named means comprising a spring actuated connection between said arms and said knife guard.

16. In a milo header a main angled arm,

a palm engaging member and a relatively fixed knife carried by said arm, a supplemental arm pivotally secured to said main angled arm, a knife guard and presser and guard Wings pivotally mounted on said supplemental angled arm, a knife carried by said guard and presser, a rocking arm pivotally mounted on said main angled arm,

a link connection between said rocking arm and said knife guard, and a spring cooperatively connected With said rocking arm for continuously tending to move said rocking arm in a direction to separate said main and supplemental arms and to rock said 4 knife guard and presser and guard Wings on their pivotal axis, and a stop for arresting the movement of said supplemental arm under the influence of said spring action in advance of the cessation of the movement of said knife guard and presser and said guard Wings on their pivotal axis.

ROY L. DAVID.

\Vitnesses EMMA JENSEN MEGENITY, L. A. ALLYN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 

